1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to apparatus for supporting tools for cleaning and coating the inside surface of ingot molds used in steel mills to produce high quality ingots and more particularly to apparatus having mechanism for adjusting the position of the tools in a mold so that the tools can contact the complete inner surface of molds or different sizes and configurations.
Ingots will have poor surface quality if slag is permitted to remain on the inside of a mold since the slag is incorporated into the surface of ingots poured into the mold. Additionally, slag which is solidified on the inside of a mold during teeming causes the surface of the mold to become rough so that subsequent ingots poured into the mold will have a rough surface. In order to avoid these problems, the inside of ingot molds must be frequently cleaned to remove accumulated slag. Also, to facilitate removal of an ingot from a mold, the inside surface of the mold is sprayed with a parting compound.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Apparatus for removing slag from the inside of ingot molds is known and is exemplified by the equipment disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,095,306 and 3,996,637. However, generally the inside of ingot molds is cleaned manually which is both time consuming and expensive. Manual cleaning of ingot molds is also dangerous since a worker must climb inside of the molds and chip the slag from the surface with a pneumatic tool which creates considerable dust. The present invention eliminates manual mold cleaning and results in a considerable saving in both time and money as well as safer working conditions.